Heart & Hope (Rosewood Ranch #2)

Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

REED

M agnet trots along the newly cut dirt track at a steady pace as I rise and fall in the saddle. The sun is hanging halfway up the blue sky, cooler air rolling in. I push the gelding into a lope, wanting to be home already. Rubes went into town to grab some groceries and run errands while I mark out the last of the trail for guests.

Nobody drives my truck, not even my brothers, but Ruby? She gets everything she needs. Even my damn F-250. Because she fucking deserves it. Sacrifices are made. That sweet ride used to be my greatest love. Now?

I shake my head to dislodge the thought.

Trying my hardest to not let it sink in.

I just can’t.

The cabins are coming along well. Huddo has done an awesome fucking job. Mack, too. Even Harry has been here from dawn ’til dusk, working on the builds. Ruby has ordered a bunch of furniture and soft furnishings for each one. They’re going to be nice when they’re finished. Which, if all goes to plan, will be the week after the roundup. So, in two weeks’ time, this is going to be very real.

But there is still a ways to go. We have to complete the finishing touches on the cabins, the barn, and have the trails all marked out by next week. The last one I can safely say can be checked off the list.

Ruby has already started the marketing. With the grand opening being on Thanksgiving weekend, families can do dinner here or come and stay. I would be lying if I said I’m not nervous about this. Is anyone going to want to spend their holiday out here?

We have to pull off the roundup before the R & R’s debut, and Huddo has us all on the roster for that, as we are every year. Addy is riding along again. But Ruby is going back to the city for the fortnight after she sees Magnet and me off to catch up in the office, since I will be stuck up the mountains somewhere.

Sweet Jesus, that’ll be the longest two weeks of my entire fucking life, I swear. The truck is still gone when I lope up to the barn. I swing down from the saddle and walk the gelding to the wash down bay. When he’s cooled off and clean, I let him out into his field and put the tack away.

Tires on gravel fade in, and I can’t help the smile that tugs up on my lips.

Ruby’s home.

Two words.

One big emotion that goes with them.

I pluck my hat from my head and run a hand through my hair as I walk from the tack room and out of the barn. She jumps out of the driver’s side of my truck, all dressed in her designer jeans and her favorite boatneck top. Her heels are black and shiny. Her hair is curled and bouncing over her shoulders as she pulls bags from the back seat of the dual cab.

“You’re home early, baby,” I rasp into her ear as I wrap myself around her from behind. She drops the bags and spins in my hold.

“No point wasting time. There’s so much to do before I leave.”

“Ugh, Rubes. Way to spoil the moment with all this leavin’ talk.”

I sink my head onto her chest. The soft chuckle that slips through her lips sends me hard fucking instantly.

“Your brothers around today?”

“Nope, no way. Told them to stay away. Plus, I’ll be stuck with Mack and Huddo for a week straight. Gotta pace myself, you know.”

Now she laughs. “I like your brothers. They’re sweet, even Hudson.”

“Do not tell Huddo that. He likes being a chip off the old block, I swear.”

“Promise. Anyway, help me bring this stuff in, will you? Then we can go over the remaining details for the opening night dinner, okay?”

“Sure thing, beautiful.”

But the last thing I wanna do right now is stare at a screen. Not when I can be lovin’ on the only woman in the world my heart has ever needed. I take the bags from her hands and follow her inside. The sway of her hips, her ass in those tight jeans, produces a groan. Which I promptly tamper down.

Ruby wants her jobs done before she leaves. I get that. I do. We have been nothing but hustling since this idea of the holiday ranch was set in motion. It’s so incredible to finally have a direction that I am excited about.

An hour later, we are staring at the computer screen. My mouth hangs open, and Ruby is doing some sort of squealing dance around the kitchen table. The opening weekend over Thanksgiving is sold out. Every cabin is booked. All the tables for the evening dinner-slash-soiree event are full. And there is a waitlist !

This woman is a fucking genius. Ruby Robbins is too good at her job. The sinking feeling that this is very real tightens between my lungs. I force myself to look at Rubes, her happy face lit up with emotion and excitement. We can do this. I can do this.

I will not let her down.

Period.

Ruby lands in my lap, hands on my face, kissing me briefly. “Wanna celebrate?”

“I thought we were too busy?” I growl, feigning a stern face. She tips her head back, laughing.

“We are, but this is definitely worth losing a few minutes for.”

“A few minutes? Ruby Robbins, it is going to take much, much longer than that.”

She giggles as I push to my feet and lift her onto my waist. Her quick, elegant fingers make short work of the buttons on my old shirt, and it hits the floor. “Where do you want to celebrate, Reedsy?”

She hasn’t called me that in a while. It has unrequited vibes tangled between the two syllables. “Outside in the sunshine. I want your cheeks flushed, baby.”

“I’m pretty sure you do that to me anyway, gorgeous man.”

Something warm and all-consuming floods my veins with her words.

“Why don’t we try out that camping spot by the spring?” she whispers in my ear, sending gooseflesh down my spine.

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”

When I reach the truck, I open the passenger door and release her to the soft leather seat. But her brows scrunch as she meets my gaze.

“You don’t take your truck out into the fields?”

“What can I say? You broke all my rules, Ruby Robbins.” I wink at her as the words she used for me take full circle and realization spreads across her beautiful face.

“Wait here a sec. I need to grab some things,” I say.

She nods, sliding her phone from her back pocket and tapping the screen. Always workin’.

Ducking into the house, I pull a cooler bag from the pantry and load it up with anything that looks like it could contribute to lunch and a bottle of red for Rubes.

Booking out for the first event is a milestone, and I’m not letting her hard work go unrecognized. I shove baskets from the sofa under one arm and head to the truck.

Head down, most likely immersed in her emails, Ruby glances up when the truck jostles with the back door opening. I pop the items between us. She raises an eyebrow.

I slide into the driver’s seat and fire her up. “We’re celebrating, remember?”

She smiles back. That one small expression sends my heart through my throat.

Three gates, two boners, and twenty minutes later, I pull up beside the water’s edge of the spring that is nestled into the side of the mountain. Complete with a modest waterfall from the overhanging rock formation, it’s flanked by rocky slate ledges. The view here is spectacular, and even though I found this spot months ago, I can’t bring myself to add it to the list of places guests can spoil.

“Oh wow,” Ruby breathes.

She is out the door in a heartbeat, walking the shoreline of the small lake the spring creates.

“This is stunning! Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

“Was saving this for a special occasion.” I smile at her, it’s all warmth and heart, and the flush of crimson that spreads over her cheeks tells me she gets it.

This thing we have built together is special. So’s the holiday ranch...

I pull the tailgate down and spread the blankets out, placing the cooler bag and the wine in the center. Arms slide around my waist and the weight of her head meets my back. Every steady breath she takes presses against my spine. But when she releases a wobbly sigh, I spin in her hold and take her face in my hands.

Brown eyes filled with silver look up at me.

I study her face. “Hey . . . what’s wrong?”

“Sorry.” She pushes from my arms, but I don’t release her wrists. “I know we’re supposed to be celebrating. But?—”

“But what, beautiful?”

“Will you be okay, I mean really okay, when I leave?”

Her eyes search my face, breaths coming quicker now. She’s worried about me. Fuck.

“I will be fine. You’ll be busy with your career, and I will be surrounded by people every day. I won’t have time to freak out, I promise.”

Her eyes flicker to the side and close. “That’s not what I meant.”

I cant my head, brows lowering.

If this isn’t about my anxiety, then what is it about?

“Ruby?”

She sucks in a breath and forces a smile. “Never mind, let’s celebrate, hey?” Her hands grab the hem of her shirt and it’s on the grass a second later. She wriggles out of her shorts and turns, heading for the water, hips swaying. Naked.

The blood supply that was fueling my processing of whatever she was trying to say to me disappears south. Distraction successful. I see you, Robbins, and raise you. I rip the clothes from my body, tossing them with hers and run, buck naked, to where she stands toeing the waterline. She turns, too slow, when she hears me coming, and I scoop her up and jump into the water.

When the water settles and we are both huffing laughs and wiping hair from our faces, I tug her into my body. She wraps her legs around my waist, and I drop my head to her shoulder. With a quick inhale to breathe her in, I wade toward the waterfall.

Ruby dots kisses over my face, hands in my wet hair. The cool water does nothing to douse the raging hard-on I have. And her body is hot on mine, her breasts pushed against my chest. The waterfall cascades behind Ruby’s back. I move closer so it hisses over her skin, and she moans.

Inching her further into the water, I watch the smile that grows on her face. “Into the water, baby.”

She leans back, letting the water tangle through her long hair and rush over her shoulders. Back arched, her nipples are pointing up at me. I latch on to one with lips and teeth, sweeping my tongue over every place I can. The whimper that tumbles from her lips makes my cock twitch. Fuck me, Ruby Robbins.

I suckle and nip each breast as she writhes on my hips. I know what she needs now. The same thing I am desperate for. Her wrapped around my cock. Her tight, wet heat.

“Inside me now, Reed Rawlins,” she growls.

I huff a chuckle and line up my tip with her center. Hungry, she kisses my mouth. I pry those pretty lips open with my tongue. She lets me in, eyes slammed shut, nails digging into my shoulders. Hungry and on the brink of losing control, I thrust up into her. She gasps, light and airy, into my mouth, and I swallow every sound she makes as I move harder, faster.

“Reed,” she whimpers, eyes flying open.

“Yeah, baby,” I rasp, barely able to catch my breath.

“I—” Her face cracks, her body rocking with each delicious wave as she milks my cock. With a groan, I pluck her nipple with my teeth, sending her higher. Every breath she takes is lined with a little desperate cry. And the overwhelming feeling that things have unwound into yet another level for Ruby and me sinks into my soul.

A sharp ache flashes through my chest, and I swallow past the rock in my throat. Willing it away with every erratic thrust I make. Her strawberry scent that weaves through my senses has me entranced.

I’m a dead man walking.

And the minute this is over and she leaves, you may as well bury me, because I will never be alive like this ever again. Without Ruby, my days are going to be one hellish stretch after another.

Her hands are on my face. And if I look anywhere near the way I feel right now, that look of worry on her face is warranted. Because fuck .

Closing my eyes, I slam into her as she whispers my name on repeat. Spilling hot and fast into her, I swear the sound of her soft plea will haunt me for the rest of my damn life. The moment I open my eyes and her hands lift my face to hers, a tear rolls down her cheek. Not water from the fall behind her. No, these drops I witness swell, bob, and then slide over her lashes, tracking a path down her cheek.

“I love you, Reed.”

My heart cracks in two. I let my eyes fall shut as something tight snakes through my rib cage. “Don’t say that, Rubes, please...”

Her breath hitches. “Look at me.”

I can’t.

“Reed.” My name is breathy desperation, and my heart squeezes tighter still. Sucking in a long, burning breath, I raise my gaze to hers. Her chin wobbles. She tries to compose herself and fails. Tears burn the back of my eyes at seeing her this way.

“Hey,” I say, running a thumb across the stream of tears that fall over her face. “Rubes, please don’t cry.”

She huffs a laugh, surprise claiming her face, and she kisses my forehead, my brows, nose, cheeks, jaw, and then finally my mouth.

How the hell am I supposed to live without this woman?